Seminars

Access to Justice SeminarLEX 8002 Cr. 3 This seminar will examine history, policies, practices and laws that demonstrate how our legal system addresses access to justice for people with economic needs or other restrictions that prevent them from using the system effectively. The seminar will examine issues in both the criminal and civil areas. Students will gain useful knowledge about how lawyers are uniquely suited to improve access to justice. They will consider career options in access to justice. These include following a public interest career, performing pro bono legal service for the poor and exercising leadership in government and elsewhere to bring changes that enhance access to justice for all. Students will learn through lectures, readings, research, site visits and by hearing from expert guest speakers.Notes: Space is limited, and enrollment will be on a first-come basis.

Advanced Issues in BankruptcyLEX 8005 Cr. 3 Prereq.: LEX 7051 Bankruptcy This seminar focuses on more specialized areas of the Bankruptcy Code than those covered in any depth in the basic bankruptcy course. Among those topics that may be covered are the means testing provisions, sovereign immunity, Chapter 9 on municipality bankruptcy, Chapter 12 on bankruptcies for family farmers or fishermen, Chapter 15 on cross-border proceedings, provisions dealing with stockbrokers, provisions dealing with labor agreements, mass tort claims, environmental claims, aircraft bankruptcies, partnership bankruptcies and bankruptcy tax provisions. Students will be expected to write a substantial research paper.

Advanced Topics in Criminal Law & ProcedureLEX 8044 Cr. 3 This seminar will focus on the law governing, practice of, and debate about plea bargaining. As the Supreme Court recently acknowledged (channeling a famous law review article that we will read), plea bargaining "is not some adjunct to the criminal justice system; it is the criminal justice system." Guilty pleas account for around 95 percent of criminal convictions in the United States. As that number suggests, practicing criminal law means practicing plea bargaining. Among the questions we will consider: Does plea bargaining serve society well? Is it on firm constitutional footing? Relatedly, what are the constitutional prerequisites for a valid guilty plea? What factors determine the outcome of a plea bargain? And finally, how does plea bargaining affect the role of the prosecutor, the defense lawyer, and the trial judge? This seminar can be used to complete the upper-level writing requirement.Notes: Space is limited and enrollment will be on a first come basis.

Advanced Topics in Work LawLEX 8241 Cr. 3 This seminar will examine current and developing issues in labor and employment law.Notes: Space is limited and enrollment will be on a first come basis.

Ancient Greek and Roman LawLEX 8010 Cr. 3 This seminar is an introduction to the legal systems of ancient Greece and Rome. For Greece, the focus is on the law of Athens during its classical period in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E. For Rome, we will look at the law as it developed over the centuries during the Republican period and the Empire, as transmitted through the compilations of Justinian in the sixth century C.E. Students will be required to write a paper on a subject relating to the course material. Completion of the paper will satisfy the law school writing requirement.

Antitrust and Trade Regulation: Current IssuesLEX 8001 Cr. 3 Prereqs: LEX 7026 Antitrust or LEX 7128 Consumer Law or consent of instructor Current antitrust and trade regulation issues, such as distribution, exemptions, horizontal restraints, legislative reform, merger policy, pricing and transnational enforcement. Coverage of the Clayton, Sherman and Federal Trade Commission Acts, and possibly state and foreign statutes and procedures.Notes: Meets the professional skills requirement. Students who elect this seminar to fulfill the upperclass writing requirement may not use it to fulfill the professional skills requirement. Space is limited, and enrollment will be on a first-come basis.

Asian Pacific American History and the Law: Perspectives on APA Civil Rights and Civil WrongsLEX 8015 Cr. 3 This seminar explores the Asian Pacific American civil rights movement with an overview of how federal and state laws have affected the Asian Pacific American (APA) experience and presence in the United States, covering a variety of civil rights cases and civil wrongs against APAs. The seminar will cover the APA historical timeline, exclusion laws, alien land laws, World War II internment of Japanese Americans, affirmative action as it applies to APAs, civil rights and racial hate crime violence, APAs in the marriage equality movement, bilingual issues in education and in the workplace, post-9/11 issues, immigration law reform, the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, and the effort to change birthright citizenship and immigration laws, among other topics.

Citizenship SeminarLEX 8029 Cr. 3 This seminar discusses the legal understanding of citizenship. How has the concept of citizenship evolved over time? How do we (or should we) decide who is and is not a citizen, in the U.S. and in other nations? What does it mean to be a citizen? If you are a citizen, what rights flow from that status? Completion of this seminar satisfies the law school writing requirement.Notes: Space is limited, and enrollment will be on a first-come basis.

Commercial Law SeminarLEX 8031 Cr. 3 Prereq. or Coreq.: LEX7756 Secured Transactions Advanced study of an area of commercial law; assigned readings. Final grade based on paper and seminar discussion leadership, on topic selected by student from instructor's list.

Consumerism and DemocracyLEX 8037 Cr. 3 Role of consumerism in democratic self-governance, both pre-Amer­ican Revolution and today. Two short and one long research-based papers required.

Contract Drafting SeminarLEX 8039 Cr. 3 Prereq.: LEX 6200 Contracts A, LEX 6202 Contracts B and permission of instructor required prior to registering This seminar will explore and develop the knowledge and skills which are necessary for sound drafting of agreements. Each seminar meeting will mix substantive issues of Contract Law with a discussion of important drafting issues that can arise. Students will draft several contracts, increasing in complexity over the term, and their drafts will be critiques and reviewed both by faculty and other students, The final grade will be determined by both the student's performance on the drafting and editing tasks and also the student's participation during the seminar meetings. Meets the professional skills requirement.Notes: Meets the professional skills requirement. Limit 16 students. Consent of instructor required.

Current Problems in International LawLEX 8048 Cr. 3 Prereq.: LEX 7408 International Law or permission of the instructor This seminar provides an intensive focus on new and controversial issues of international law. The focus will change with each course offering in order to reflect recent developments. The readings, class discussion and paper requirement will provide an opportunity to understand how international institutions function, the justification for the norms they seek to enforce and the coherence of those norms with theories of international society.Notes: Class requirements include an in-class midterm examination, a take-home final examination and a high level of in-class participation.

Detroit Equity Action Lab: A Collaborative Study of Structural Racism SeminarLEX 8051 Cr. 3 This seminar introduces students to notions of structural racism as it impacts the city of Detroit. Students will work collaboratively with members of the Detroit Equity Action Lab (DEAL) addressing racial equity in a wide range of sectors, such as civil rights, transportation, community development, health, education and housing. Students will develop awareness of the role and limits of law in addressing structural racism. In addition to examining the work of individual organizations, students will consider broader issues impacting racial equity and will explore interventions that might change public policy and public awareness as it relates to structural racism.Notes: Space is limited and enrollment will be on a first-come basis.

Effective Oral Communication for LawyersLEX8067 Cr. 3 Prereq: consent of instructor Exercise-based seminar to help students become more familiar with, and more skillful at, oral communication in the various settings familiar to a lawyer. Topics include: physiology of speech and sources of speech pathology; aspects of non-verbal communication; use of humor; stage fright; making communication interesting. Meets the professional skills requirement.Notes: Grading is Honors, Pass, Low Pass, No Credit.

Energy Law: Current TopicsLEX8068 Cr. 3 This seminar will provide an in-depth exploration of a particular topic regarding the regulation of energy production or consumption. Topics will vary over time, but may include the regulation of fuel sources and emissions in the U.S. transportation sector, the role of incentives and regulations in financing clean energy investments, and the impact of regulation on adoption of electric vehicles. Students will be responsible for a research paper and presentation to the class.

Ethics of the Lawyering ExperienceLEX 8075 Cr. 3 This seminar will explore the psychological and ethical dimensions of law and legal practice by engaging principally with works of fiction and selected legal scholarship. Students will write weekly reaction papers. The seminar does not satisfy the upperclass writing requirement.Notes: This course does not fulfill the Upper Level Writing Requirement. Students may make arrangements with the instructor to do a final paper to fulfill the requirement.

Evidence Law: Advanced TopicsLEX 8081 Cr. 3 Prereq: LEX7266 Evidence or Consent of the Instructor This seminar will require students to write papers and give presentations on current topics of evidence law.

Family ViolenceLEX 8101 Cr. 3 Analysis of the utilization of the legal system to address issues of abuse within the family. Topics include: the response of the criminal justice system to various forms of family violence, such as marital rape, spouse abuse and child abuse; use of tort and injunctive remedies; examination of new and proposed legislation.Notes: Space is limited and enrollment will be on a first come basis.

Health Law: Advanced TopicsLEX 8171 This seminar will examine the current legal issues related to health. Topics will vary over time. Samples of topics include recent applications of the law to impact health within and outside of the health care system; contemporary debates on the role of government and the private sector in health; innovative proposals to use law, ethics, and policy to improve health; and the role of law during public health emergencies. The readings for the seminar will be drawn from a variety of disciplines including law, ethics, medicine, and other sciences. A substantial research paper and a significant in-class presentation are required.Notes: Space is limited and enrollment will be on a first come basis.

International and Comparative Business Law: Doing Business in China SeminarLEX 8161 Cr. 3 This seminar is designed as an introduction to the legal aspects of doing business with Chinese entities. After a brief overview of the historical context and the basic structure of the Chinese legal system, we will explore political, economic, legal and cultural issues U.S. companies typically encounter in conducting business with the Chinese. Specific topics include foreign direct investment, company law, intellectual property rights, labor law, banking and foreign exchange, anti-monopoly law, cyber and national security issues, and dispute settlement. Enrollment is limited to 12 students.Notes: Limit 12 students; enrollment will be on a first come basis.

International Environmental Law SeminarLEX 8141 Cr. 3 This seminar will provide a sophisticated and in-depth examination of international environmental law. Students will explore the use of treaties and other international mechanisms for dealing with international environmental problems. Students will be expected to do individual research and make oral presentations to the class, along with keeping abreast of reading and participating in class discussions. The seminar may include additional student projects, including negotiation or drafting exercises.

International TradeLEX 8185 Cr. 3 This seminar studies the jurisprudence of the World Trade Organization and discusses current legal and policy issues of international trade.

International Women's Human Rights SeminarLEX 8195 Cr. 3 An in-depth study of the evolution of women's rights as human rights examined in the context of legal instruments such as the UN Convention to Eliminate Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and other international treaties, and in the jurisprudence of women's human rights in international tribunals. This course will also explore the role of global and regional human rights organizations in securing women's legal rights, as well as domestic implementation of emerging norms in women's human rights. Finally students will analyze the current legal discourse on women's human rights and explore key issues in the light of specific world regions, cultures and religious traditions.

Law and Literature SeminarLEX 8248 Cr. 3 This seminar will examine the connections between law and literature, with a focus on stories of adoption. Topics will include: the role of narrative in legal arguments and in legal decision making; the role of narrative and law, respectively, in constructing identity and literary criticisms of the law and of the legal profession. By examining these topics through the lens of stories of adoption, we will also consider several questions specific to the theme of adoption, such as: shifting definitions of parenthood; the debate over nature vs. nurture; and the ways in which stories of adoptions also raise issues of class, race, gender and national identity. We will address these questions by analyzing novels, short stories, films, memoirs and legal cases from both the 19th century and the modern day. Authors will include Charles Dickens, George Eliot, P.D. James and Louise Erdrich. In addition to in-class presentations, students will be required to write a paper on a topic related to the subject matter of the course.Notes: Limit 12 students; enrollment will be on a first come basis.

Law in CyberspaceLEX 8256 Cr. 3 Topics may include online speech (including regulation of harmful and sexually explicit speech); filtering and intermediary liability; virtual property; online contracts; trademarks and domain names; copyright; the problems that flow from asserting national laws in a medium with no national borders.Notes: Space is limited, and enrollment will be on a first-come basis.

Law of the City: DetroitLEX 8260 Cr. 3 This seminar explores legal, economic, and policy issues regarding the contemporary American city, using Detroit as the case study. Themes covered will include race, class, positive rights, community organization and identity, economics, public education, environmental justice, and legal pluralism. Toward this end, students will read a mix of constitutional and statutory provisions, caselaw, administrative determinations, academic writing and current popular media. By discussing a different aspect of urban law each week, the seminar will provide students with an opportunity to explore a broad array of legal issues and opportunities in the urban environment around them. The seminar will explore both current law and potential policy reforms. Students will be responsible for a research paper and presentation on a mutually agreed-upon topic.

Legal ChangeLEX 8263 Cr. 3 What is the relationship between law and social change? How effective are changes in legal doctrine in changing social practices? Under what conditions, can we effectively use the law to promote social change? This course investigates these questions by studying the relationships among social movements, courts, legislatures, and other international and domestic institutions. Students will examine materials from actual legal reform movements, including equality in education and women's rights, and evaluate strategies for legal reform and their impact on statutory and decisional law as well as social practices.Notes: Space is limited and enrollment will be on a first come basis.

National Labor Relations Act: Current ProblemsLEX 8271 Cr. 3 Prereq.: LEX 7501 Labor Law The seminar will focus on legal issues pending before the Board and in the courts. The students will stand in the place of the National Labor Relations Board and render opinions on critical labor law issues. Students will read the actual briefs in pending cases, discuss the cases, vote on disposition and draft majority and dissenting opinions. Each student will be expected to write one majority and one concurring or dissenting opinion. Class discussions will concentrate on the NLRB's decision making process and judicial review of Board decisions. After the Wayne State University Law School Board panels have rendered their opinions, class discussion will focus on the draft opinions. The grade for the course will depend on class participation as well as written work. Students may elect to write papers based on the legal issues discussed by the class.Notes: Space is limited, and enrollment will be on a first-come basis.

National Security Law SeminarLEX 8280 Cr. 3 Prereq.: LEX 6700 Constitutional Law I Rec: LEX 7126 Con Law II , LEX 7408 International Law or permission of instructor Limitations: Students who have taken LEX 7888 U.S. Foreign Relations Law may enroll only with prior permission of instructor. National security law has emerged as a distinct area of specialization within government law practice, private law practice, and academia. The field draws upon aspects of international law, constitutional law, criminal law, administrative law, and other fields as they are brought to bear on a particular set of issues: who formulates and implements the national security policies of the United States? When do the nation's security interests trump competing values (civil liberties, transparency, fulfillment of the nation's international legal obligations)? In what respects is America's approach to these issues similar to or different from that of other countries? Readings include statutes, treaties, regulations, case law, and extensive secondary literature, all of which serve as a basis for a substantial research paper or law journal note.Notes: Limit 16 students. Course requirements include both a midterm examination and a paper.

Race and the Law: Advanced TopicsLEX 8300 Cr. 3 This seminar will examine the role of the law in creating as well as maintaining race, racial hierarchies, and racial inequality. Contrary to the traditional view of racial subordination as solely a deviation from the liberal legal ideal, this course recasts the role of law as historically central to and complicit in upholding racial hierarchy as well as other hierarchies of gender, class and sexual orientation. The course will investigate these issues over the span of centuries, from the founding of the Americas to the present day. This course will explore oft-discussed issues at the intersection of race and law such as slavery, colonization, immigration, citizenship, nation building, national security, and affirmative action as well as less examined issues, such as sexual exploitation and unarmed police shootings.Notes: Space is limited and enrollment will be on a first come basis. For winter 2018 this course is being taught by visiting Professor Bernadette Atuahene and will have a practical component that requires students to work collaboratively with the Coalition to End Unconstitutional Tax Foreclosures and its partner organizations to address the tax foreclosure crisis in Detroit.

Regulation of ViceLEX 8335 Cr. 3 Regulation of Vice (seminar) explores legal, economic, and policy issues regarding federal, state, and local regulation of vice (including alcohol, nicotine, drugs, gambling, and commercial sex). The current legal landscape will be studied, along with potential policy reforms. Students will be responsible for a research paper and presentation on a mutually agreed upon topic, which may include a specific regulation or vice law, proposed policy reform, comparative analysis from another jurisdiction, and state/local issues.

Reimagining Development in Detroit: Institutions, Law & SocietyLEX 8003 Cr. 3 Prereq.: LEX 6500 Property This seminar examines contemporary problems of community development from a perspective of institutional economics. Students will be introduced to the tools and theories of institutional economics and how these principles are increasingly applied to problems relevant to the City of Detroit. Students will write research papers applying these tools to issues such as race and regionalism, the role of faith-based organizations in community development, abandoned land and community gardens, the structure of local governance, charter schools and the fate of the public schools, opportunity based housing and the state of health care safety net providers.Notes: Space is limited and enrollment will be on a first come basis.

Sex, Sexuality and the Law in Contemporary U.S.A. LEX 8345 Cr. 3 This seminar is a broad based survey of the ways in which the law constructs people as sexual beings and regulates that being and her/his sexuality. The seminar has four main objectives: 1) to deepen student's understanding of contemporary U.S. laws that address sex and sexuality, 2) to come to understand some of the ways in which individuals and groups are impacted by those laws, 3) to learn and apply aspects of critical legal theories in legal analysis and 4) to strengthen written and oral legal analysis and communication. The seminar will be in a workshop format with class contribution making up a significant portion of the grade.Notes: Space is limited and enrollment will be on a first come basis.

Sports and Inequality SeminarLEX 8351 Cr. 3 This seminar will examine the legal and social implications of various forms of discrimination in both the professional and amateur sports contexts. Coverage will include a discussion of legal efforts to address discrimination in sports based on race, gender, disability, and sexual orientation. Topics include racial inequalities on the playing fields and in the front offices of amateur and professional sports; the impact of NCAA eligibility criteria; the effects and future of Title IX; gender segregation and exclusion in professional sports and sexual violence; sexual orientation discrimination in sports; and sports opportunities for people with disabilities. The final paper for this class may be used to satisfy the upper-level writing requirement.Notes: Space is limited and enrollment will be on a first come basis.

Tax Policy Seminar: Role and Impact of Congressional Oversight on Abusive Tax StrategiesLEX 8363 Cr. 3Prereq: Taxation (LEX 7816) This seminar will examine the international tax rules, the abusive strategies, and the responses by Congress and foreign governments. We will use excerpts from Congressional hearings to explore the role of Congressional oversight in identifying the noncompliance with existing laws, the role of foreign governments in facilitating abuses and illegal behavior, and the need for legislative or administrative action to address some of the abuses. We will consider policy options to reduce the incentives for businesses to pursue these strategies. We will examine professional ethics and the role of lawyers and other professionals in structuring these abusive transactions.

Urban Housing and Community DevelopmentLEX 8401 Cr. 3 Legal, social and economic aspects of urban housing and community development, including local, state and national programs and policies.Notes: Space is limited and enrollment will be on a first come basis.